Post by stone on Jul 2, 2019 7:43:19 GMT -5

I love this forum for many reasons and one of them is that we talk about anything and everything.

Maybe I can help someone with their golf game

Below is an accurate example of the two ways your golf club bends during the swing. The "Lead Deflection" occurs when you whip your wrists through the ball and the "Toe -down Deflection" occurs naturally during the swing due to the weight of the clubhead succumbing to gravity which is temporarily reduced due to the force of the swing. Both of these deflections are controlled mainly by two things; the stiffness of the shaft, and the violence with which you swing.

"Lead Deflection" can dramatically change your ball flight from a draw/hook to a fade/slice simply by the timing at which you release your wrists. If you release early, the club head will be ahead of your hands, like the picture shows, and if you release late the clubhead will be behind your hands. As you can imagine, this can change the loft and direction that your clubhead is pointing by enough to take you from far left to far right.

"Toe-down Deflection" can cause either the heel of the club or the toe of the club to impact the ground causing the club to be forcefully rotated closed or open just before the club impacts the ball.

If you are serious about your game, get fitted by a good fitting pro with the latest equipment because what the shaft is doing at impact can only be determined in this way. Every golf swing is unique and two golfers who have the exact same clubhead speed with a driver will cause the exact same shaft to do very different things during the swing.

When I played competitively, and when I taught others, I always worked with mental images and feelings rather than angles and swing increments because as I said, every golf swing is different. This is the best mental image that ever worked for me and many I helped. When I was a young lad, we used to cut a small live branch from an apple tree about 1/2" in diameter tapering down to 1/4" in diameter and about 30" long. We would sharpen the tip, jam an apple onto the tip, and see how far we could throw the apple. The goal was to get the forward momentum started in a slow and controlled manner and then violently whip your wrist like cracking a whip. Just like the golf swing, the best distance could be achieved by the timing of when you whipped your wrists. Whip your wrists too early and the apple would go up in the air, too late, and the apple would slam into the ground a few feet in front of you. Now imagine that your clubhead could come off with just the perfect amount of force and time your release so that the clubhead would go straight toward your target with the maximum distance. Release your wrists too early and the ball (clubhead) will go left, release your wrists too late and the ball (clubhead) will go right. I edited that because I initially had it backwards....I lost track of what I was writing

If you ever wonder how the touring pros can hit the ball so far, it's because they can delay their wrist release until the very last mili-second and then violently release them........and control it Take a look at the third frame of the below picture and see how his wrists are still fully cocked while his hands are below his belt, and his right elbow is nearly touching his side; this is what creates distance. If you try to make a swing like this you will most likely hit 8-10 inches behind the ball until you learn to get it all in the proper position at the proper time.

Post by stone on Jul 2, 2019 9:00:49 GMT -5

I have not played in several years but I still have my set of Square Two's with extra stiff shafts. I found that regular flex shafts were impossible for me to control.

It's unfortunate but the shafts installed in "off the rack" golf clubs are garbage and vary wildly, particularly graphite shafts. The only way to know for sure it to have them tested on a frequency machine.

It's not uncommon to find a stock graphite shaft that says stiff but cycles in the senior range.

Post by briarbuck on Jul 2, 2019 9:07:37 GMT -5

Just got fit and bought the new Ping i500's. The club heads made a big difference from what I was playing (blades), but being fitted for the shaft made all the difference. Bet it added 10 yards by the end of the fitting. As they say...game changer.

Post by stone on Jul 2, 2019 9:23:37 GMT -5

Just got fit and bought the new Ping i500's. The club heads made a big difference from what I was playing (blades), but being fitted for the shaft made all the difference. Bet it added 10 yards by the end of the fitting. As they say...game changer.

Happy to hear that! There are so many factors in a shaft that vary based on design. The "weight" of the shaft, the "amount" of flex, "where" in the length of the shaft it flexes, the "torque" which is the resistance to shaft the twisting, etc.

I quit golf for 10 years and when I started again I got fitted again and bought the Titleist AP2's, the difference was incredible! With my old tour blades a bad swing resulted in a 6 iron being 15 yards off line, the AP2's would be 15 feet off line.

Post by Mac on Jul 2, 2019 10:52:03 GMT -5

Re-took up the game two years ago after a 35 year lay off. It was not like getting back on a bike. Finally got my first new set of clubs, ever. Ping 400s.

Two days ago I shot my age, also first time ever. Love the game, the camaraderie, the exercise, fresh air. I am lucky to live on a very nice course, so I can stroll out and play a few holes every day, in addition to full rounds several times a week. My bag always has a dozen or so pipes in a pocket, and Father Dempsey usually accompanies me.

Thanks for the thoughts on swing dynamics! A few months ago I realized my wrist release was too early, and bam! I gained about ten yards on my irons.

Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2019 14:43:32 GMT -5

Great read, thanks for posting 👌👍👍. If I played now I’d most likely yell “ FIVE “.....lol. It’s been a long time since I played, but not often. When I was younger hockey I played often. Also enjoyed tennis, many years ago I had a girlfriend that was quite good, we made a great doubles team. She had a better backhand then I did, she was tall and thin, yet powerful.

Post by stone on Jul 8, 2019 8:18:34 GMT -5

I haven’t played in three years. When my knee went it wasn’t fun anymore. Now I have back and neck issues and hope if it gets better I can try again.

When I did play my friends said if my swing was filmed there would be a caption saying not to attempt at home.

Ken, that's funny! When I was younger people said I could swing inside a telephone booth, which is a compliment ,meaning my swing was compact and tight. Now, I'm not sure I want a description I can still shoot even par occasionally but I am frustrated that I can't maintain concentration long enough to complete a good swing